Anger is continuing to build after fresh leaks have revealed that more boozy parties were held at Downing Street during lockdown when restrictions banned indoor mixing in April 2021.
In the latest addition to the ongoing “partygate” crisis that’s threatening the Prime Minister’s political future, the two separate gatherings – which were originally reported in The Telegraph yesterday evening – were allegedly said to have occurred on the 16 April, which was the night before the Queen was forced to sit by herself at her husband Prince Philip’s funeral at St George’s Chapel in Windsor.
The gatherings were reported to have included people drinking and dancing to music until the early hours of the morning.
It is claimed that the two 16 April events were held in two different parts of the Downing Street complex, but later joined together in the garden, with around 30 people attending both gatherings combined.
The Telegraph reported that one leaving event was held for James Slack – the Prime Minister’s departing Director of Communications, who left to become Deputy Editor-in-Chief at The Sun newspaper – while another was for one of Mr Johnson’s personal photographers.
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It was reported that one staff member was said to have acted as a DJ at one of the events, while another is reported to have expressed fears that too much wine was being spilled on a carpet, while one eyewitness even told the newspaper that a staff member used and broke a child’s swing in the garden belonging to Mr Johnson’s son, Wilfred.
The newspaper’s account of the parties also claimed that one attendee was sent to a nearby supermarket store with a suitcase to be filled with bottles of wine and brought back to Downing Street.
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James Slack has released a statement this morning saying he wanted to “apologise unreservedly for the anger and hurt caused” by the gathering held to mark the leaving of his role, adding that the event “should not have happened at the time that it did” and that he “takes full responsibility”.
A Number 10 spokesperson told The Telegraph that the Prime Minister was not in Downing Street that day.
He was said to have been at chequers.
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Yet the leaks of these newly-alleged parties only appears to be adding to the growing calls for Mr Johnson to resign or be removed from his role.
Sir Ed Davey – the leader of the Liberal Democrats – took to Twitter to call for the Prime Minister to resign following the fresh claims, saying: “The Queen sitting alone, mourning the loss of her husband, was the defining image of lockdown. Not because she is the Queen, but because she was just another person, mourning alone like too many others.
“Whilst she mourned, Number 10 partied. Johnson must go.”
His comments were also echoed by Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner, who too took to Twitter yesterday to write: “The Queen sat alone in mourning like so many did at the time with personal trauma and sacrifice to keep to the rules in the national interest.
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“I have no words for the culture and behaviours at Number 10, and the buck stops with the PM.”
Fran Hall – from the campaign group COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice – added: “If your neighbours had behaved like this, you’d have been disgusted. For the people running the country to do it and then lie about it, shows a complete disdain for the general public.”
Ms Hall added: “The Conservative MPs that are keeping him in power disgrace their country.”
Five conservative MPs – Caroline Nokes, Douglas Ross, Sir Roger Gale, William Wragg, and the latest, Andrew Bridgen – have publicly announced that they have submitted a letter of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
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If a total of 54 letters are received, Mr Johnson will be forced to face a confidence vote over his leadership.
At the time when the newly-alleged parties were held back in April 2021, the country was in a period of national mourning, and England was still under strict COVID lockdown rules that banned socialising with other households indoors unless you had formed a support bubble, and people in England were also prevented from meeting outdoors in groups larger than six, or from more than two households.
Restrictions also limited funerals like Prince Philip’s to just 30 attendees with strict social distancing, while only 15 were allowed to gather for wakes.
These multiple allegations of COVID rule-breaking, both Downing Street and other government buildings, are currently subject to an investigation by senior Civil Servant,Sue Gray – however, she is not expected to report on her findings until next week at the earliest.
The UK looks set for a ’30°C heatwave’ this summer, according to weather expert
Danny Jones
It’s been a bit of an up-and-down spring but the warm weather is finally starting to arrive here in Manchester, with temperatures reaching up to 21°C this week and the summery vibes only set to increase over the next month or so as meteorologists are predicting a 30°C heatwave soon enough.
March onwards has been a pure mix of blustery winds, grey skies and flashes of rainfall, with just a few glimpses of sun peeking through and the thermometer has still been struggling to get into double digits – until now anyway.
As we leave April behind, the forecast across the UK is looking a lot brighter and according to the likes of the Met Office, those numbers are going to keep creeping as we head deeper into the month.
In fact, some experts are predicting that Britain could be set for a heatwave with temperatures of 30°C and over in just over a month’s time. It better bloody hurry up, put it that way.
According to Jim Dale, Senior Meteorologist at British Weather Services, while much of May will be a bit of a mixed bag, “towards the latter stage and into June and July… we will see climbing temperatures well into the 30s in the prone areas.”
As reported by Birmingham Live, while Dale didn’t detail the kind of heat Manchester can expect, specifically, the indication is that the region is beginning to dry and the country as a whole is now heading “in the right direction”.
Although it likely won’t be until the very tail end of May that we start to see the summer as we know rolling in, the trends around the continent are suggesting positive signs, adding that “a lot of Europe is getting the scorching hot temperatures” of late.
The Met Office’s Tom Morgan also warned The Guardian that we get anything close to a heatwave this month, so we’ll have to be patient and wait for the turn come June time, especially up North.
While we did enjoy a heatwave in September of last year, hitting a top end of 33.5°C, the chances of the country challenging the most recent temperature record sat back in 2022 (40.3°C in July 2023) are still looking slim.
April has been described as a “month of two halves” overall and let’s just say we’re looking forward to a strong showing this May.
Where in Greater Manchester are you most looking forward to heading when summer finally arrives?
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Dunk (via Flickr)
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Co-op Live assures fans arena WILL open this week in time for Olivia Rodrigo and other gigs
Daisy Jackson
Manchester’s huge new arena the Co-op Live has assured fans that it will definitely, actually, for sure open this week.
The staggering new music venue beside the Etihad Stadium has been hit by a couple of high-profile delays in the last fortnight.
Although a test event with Rick Astley went ahead on 21 April, giving a small audience a glimpse inside the state-of-the-art arena, the brakes were slammed on soon afterwards.
Co-op Live pushed its opening date back while it ironed out some kinks, namely ‘power supply issues’, and underwent rigorous testing to ‘run all shows safely’.
That meant Peter Kay was rescheduled to 29 and 30 April… but then got postponed again, along with The Black Keys, who were meant to perform last weekend.
All the delays have left fans panicking that their shows will also be delayed, with some huge shows like Olivia Rodrigo, Take That, and Liam Gallagher lined up in the coming weeks and months.
But Co-op Live has now issued a statement reassuring gig-goers that they are full steam ahead and ready to open as planned this week.
The first act to perform here officially will now be A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie on 1 May (not quite as local a name as they were gunning for, but we move).
He’ll be followed by Olivia Rodrigo and her Guts Tour, who will perform two sold-out gigs on 3 and 4 May.
Then Keane will play the Co-op Live on 5 May to mark 20 years since the release of Hopes and Fears.
Co-op Live posted: “Let’s do this! Less than 48 hours until we kick off our full opening season.
“Our scheduled shows with @aboogievsartist, @oliviarodrigo and @keaneofficial are going ahead.
“Ticket holders can expect an email with everything they need to know about this week’s events to land in your inboxes tomorrow!”
Fans have breathed a sigh of relief at the news, with one person writing: “YAY THANK GOD OMG THIS IS AMAZING WAS LITERALLY HAVJNG A MENTAL BREAKDOWN BOUT OLIVIA BEING CANCELLED.”
Another commented: “THANK GOD!!! 4th mayyyy.”
Someone else posted: “IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHH I’VE BEEN NERVOUS ALL WEEK BUT NOW I KNOW ITS GONNA BE FINE AHHH.”
Olivia Rodrigo fans are BIG believers in an all-caps comment, clearly.
Co-op Live will open in Manchester on Wednesday 1 May.
It’s going to be worth the wait, we’re pretty sure…